Odd chicken behavior

[eggfooyung]

I’ve had chickens for many years but always got pullets. This spring i got two-day olds. My girls are now 5 months old, and seem to be clueless about eating bugs and normal things that all my other girls always ate…lettuce, worms, grubs, melon. They do love mealworms. Their coop is directly connected to a very large predator-proofed pen, filled with weeds which aren’t being eaten. Are they too young? I assumed foraging was an automatic instinct with them!
And do I wait till the first egg before switching to layer feed? They’re still on starter feed. Since they won’t all start laying at the same time, will it be harmful to the other girls to eat the layer feed?
Thanks!

 

[NatJ]

About eating things: I have no idea why some chickens seem to figure it out easily, and others do not.

About starter vs. layer feed:
The only special thing about layer feed is that is has about three times as much calcium as chick starter. That is good for hens who need to make eggshells, but bad for chickens that are not laying eggs.

The whole flock can stay on starter feed as long as you like, as long as you provide a source of calcium for the ones who are laying. A dish of oyster shell is often the easiest to manage. Chickens are usually quite good at eating the right amount for their own needs, so the ones who are laying will eat more oyster shell than the ones who are not, and each one should start eating more oyster shell at about the time she needs it. It is an easy way to deal with pullets that start laying at different ages, and also works fine for other situations when you might have layers living with non-layers (like a mixed flock with layers, broodies, roosters, and chicks.)

Once your pullets are all laying, you could switch to layer feed if you want, or you could continue to use chick starter with a separate dish of free-choice oyster shell. Either way is fine for adult layers.

 

[eggfooyung]

About eating things: I have no idea why some chickens seem to figure it out easily, and others do not.

About starter vs. layer feed:
The only special thing about layer feed is that is has about three times as much calcium as chick starter. That is good for hens who need to make eggshells, but bad for chickens that are not laying eggs.

The whole flock can stay on starter feed as long as you like, as long as you provide a source of calcium for the ones who are laying. A dish of oyster shell is often the easiest to manage. Chickens are usually quite good at eating the right amount for their own needs, so the ones who are laying will eat more oyster shell than the ones who are not, and each one should start eating more oyster shell at about the time she needs it. It is an easy way to deal with pullets that start laying at different ages, and also works fine for other situations when you might have layers living with non-layers (like a mixed flock with layers, broodies, roosters, and chicks.)

Once your pullets are all laying, you could switch to layer feed if you want, or you could continue to use chick starter with a separate dish of free-choice oyster shell. Either way is fine for adult layers.

Many thanks!